New German Literature in English Translation

you may take this house as an outpost

you may take this house as an outpost
of my conscious being for example
in the nooks and crannies creatures
scurry without an eyelash between them I tried
to track them for ages but could not capture
things which slipped so swiftly by
forced to squint continually perhaps it was a trick perhaps
I lacked equipment I wanted to get a grasp
but was in no position to develop the habit
of being a bee spider mouse this house
has no brows beneath which I might withdraw
blinking what would I then know
of that concocted cat
had I the nose of a rat